Murder One by William Bernhardt

When Ben Kincaid gets an accused cop-killer off the hook, the police declare a vendetta

It is one of the most gruesome murders Oklahoma has ever seen. A horribly mutilated man is found chained to a statue in the middle of downtown Tulsa, secured so tightly that it takes the police hours to get him down. As the city’s workforce stares, the police realize something terrible: The victim is one of their own.

They arrest the dead cop’s girlfriend, a nineteen-year-old stripper whose camera-ready appearance quickly turns the trial into a media circus. And when idealistic young defense attorney Ben Kincaid gets the dancer off on a technicality, the city erupts. Unable to try their suspect a second time, the Tulsa police build a case against Kincaid, arresting him after they stumble across the murder weapon in his office. Every instrument in the state’s justice system is turned against him, but Kincaid isn’t worried. He’s faced worse odds before.

“Outstanding. . . . Amazing. . . . You never see the end coming.” - Tulsa World

“Bernhardt just gets better and better.” - Daily Oklahoman

“Writers of popular fiction must have some gift of readability, but only a few have as unerring a narrative flair as Bernhardt.” - Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine